Don’t expect your mail to get delivered any time soon.
That’s the message from labour relations experts, who say there doesn’t appear to be any quick end in sight for a strike by 53,000 postal workers.
With Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers further apart than ever, the federal government doesn’t appear to be in any rush to issue back-to-work legislation or use the Canada Labour Code to order workers back on the job, labour relations experts say.
“It doesn’t seem like the government is rushing to intervene to put a stop to the dispute,” said Stephanie Ross, a labour studies professor at McMaster University.
While Canada Post has long argued that it needs a dramatic restructuring to cut financial losses, last week, the federal government last week gave the Crown corporation the tools to do just that.
Federal procurement minister Joël Lightbound greenlit changes including the elimination of home delivery, the use of more community mailboxes, and the closure of some rural post offices.
Lightbound gave Canada Post 45 days to come up with a plan to implement the restructuring. Within hours, CUPW members went out on their second national strike in under a year, the latest development in a contract dispute which has stretched to 20 months.
Canada Post had been expected to present CUPW with its latest contract offer Friday, but delayed that to this week after Lightbound’s announcement.
The Crown corporation said Monday it’s working on revamping its offer.
“We remain committed to reaching negotiated statements with CUPW that are affordable, support our people and help build a sustainable future for the company,” Canada Post said in a written statement. “We have confirmed with CUPW that we are working diligently and will present these new offers soon.”
CUPW didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Lightbound’s announcement, argued Ross and other labour relations experts, was aimed at putting pressure on the union.
“I think that the strategy is to see if the pressure that comes from not being paid starts to change the minds of the union and its members,” said Ross. Lightbound’s announcement, Ross argued, was designed to inflame CUPW members, and exacerbate internal union divisions.
“It’s about getting the union to give up or to widen the divisions inside the union around taking a settlement now to try to contain the damage versus staying out and fighting for something that may never come,” Ross said.
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu did not rule out federal intervention to end the strike. But she also said Canada Post needs to put a new offer on the table quickly and the union needs to consider any proposal seriously.
She said the onus is on the parties to come together after nearly two years of bargaining to chart a new course for the struggling postal service.
“This union and corporation have to figure out the future of their workforce together and how they’re going to actually together, transform Canada Post to be a viable, sustainable Crown corporation,” Hajdu said. “There is no time to be wasted here by either the corporation, or the union, once that offer is tabled.”
Asked specifically whether the government is preparing back-to-work legislation or to issue a back to work order under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, Hajdu spokesperson Jennifer Kozelj said the best deals still come at the bargaining table.
“Every dispute is different, and we cannot speculate on how each will play out,” Kozelj said, “however, we will always maintain that the strongest deals happen at the table.”
In August, striking Air Canada flight attendants disobeyed a Section 107 order, and within days managed to reach a contract agreement.
Given CUPW’s dwindling leverage at the bargaining table after Lightbound’s announcement, the federal government likely sees less need to issue a back-to-work order or unveil legislation, said Larry Savage, a labour studies professor at Brock University.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see a long, drawn-out strike, because a long, drawn-out strike may actually serve the government’s purpose here,” said Savage.
A long strike, said Savage, would likely deplete the union’s resources, increase internal divisions, and sap picket-line morale.
“All of these things make it … easier for the federal government to push through their restructuring agenda,” said Savage. “Right now, I think they see the union as the biggest obstacle to that agenda.”
While the government ended a one-month strike by CUPW members last November by using Section 107, the dynamic has changed dramatically since then, Savage said.
“They might just let the union exhaust itself through a drawn-out strike. Last year, they jumped in when the union still had cards,” said Savage. “Now, might be content to leave an internally-divided union twisting in the wind.”
With files from the Canadian Press
